Many vehicles such as cars and four wheel drives are these days fitted with tow-bars.
Conventional tow-bars comprise a bar that is mounted to the rear of the towing vehicle through a number of mounting points to distribute the towing load. The bar is a sturdy steel construction and is coupled to a towing hitch that includes an upstanding tow-ball that is adapted to fit on a towing socket that is provided on the vehicle that is to be towed. The ball and socket means of attachment is the most common means of attaching a trailer to a tow-bar. However to allow the vehicle to turn relative to the trailer it is important that there is space between the rear of the vehicle and the tow-ball, thus towing hitches have the effect of causing the tow-ball to project rearwardly of the vehicle. This rearward projection of the tow-ball is potentially hazardous both in terms of the damage that it can cause to a vehicle that may make a slow speed collision with the rear of the vehicle and the damage it does to pedestrians' legs as they walk behind the vehicle and do not see the tow-ball which is comparatively close to the ground. Many pedestrians have severely bruised their shins in this manner.
Many towing hitches can be removed from the tow-bar by either removal of a locking pin that holds the hitches in position or unbolting the towing hitch from the bar. The problem with removing the towing hitch is that most tow-bars also include an electrical socket into which a plug from the trailer can be inserted to enable the trailer to display turning, tail and stop lights. If the towing hitch is removed from the tow-bar and a vehicle was to make a slow speed collision with a towing vehicle, the electrical socket, because it often projects rearwardly of the vehicle, takes the full impact of the load and thus is easily damaged.